14 Training Together

Hey, Yozuka here.

I've made a Discord server for anyone who'd like to hang out or chat with others there.

I'm also sporadically posting sneak peeks for later chapters there.

Link in the Author's Thoughts.

Enjoy the chapter!

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Sheng Feilong's back was drenched in cold sweat. Standing as straight as an arrow, he didn't even dare say a single word and could only look at Jian Wang, who was hysterically laughing at Song Weihan, with pity and regret. His friend would have to live through hell today.

Song Weihan stretched his back before walking out of the room. Passing by Sheng Feilong, he turned to the latter and spoke with an upbeat voice and a bright smile.

"Feilong, we'll begin training. Take Jian Wang to the third training hall. We'll start with hand-to-hand combat today – the two of you against me."

Sheng Feilong stiffened and looked as if he was about to cry as Song Weihan happily skipped out of the room.

'Why have I been dragged into this?! I shouldn't have brought Brother Wang here...'

Jian Wang stopped laughing a while after Song Weihan left. He heard what Song Weihan said and was thrilled. He just came here to take a look at a few artificial Spirit Souls but he never imagined he'd be trained by a top Soul Master instead! He expectantly looked at Sheng Feilong, only to see his pitiful expression. Surprised by that, he innocently asked.

"What's wrong, Feilong? Aren't we going to follow your Master? He said he's going to train us!"

Sheng Feilong was speechless for a moment, than let out a long sigh.

"Yeah, you're right... it's time for training... Hah... This will be hard..."

Sheng Feilong walked out of the room with Jian Wang following behind him as they headed to a training room further back. Changing clothes to a more suitable, casual training attire in one of the locker rooms, they entered the room, where Song Weihan was already waiting for them, still wearing his usual uniform and smiling brightly.

"There you are. As I said, we'll start with hand-to-hand combat. I'll suppress my Soul Power to the level of an average Soul Master of Rank 12. If you can make me use one of my Soul Skills, it'll be your victory. You make the first move."

Hearing those conditions, Jian Wang was encouraged. His opponent would only use Soul Power of rank 12 whereas he was already at rank 9 and Sheng Feilong even was at rank 13! He summoned his Spirit Soul, the Mountain Splitting Axe, and charged at Song Weihan. Song Weihan still smiled brightly, but that smile changed to a more mischievous, nearly devilish smile.

About half an hour later, the training hall had become silent.

Sheng Feilong and Jian Wang were left sprawling on the ground with dishevelled hair and bruised eyes, breathing heavily. Song Weihan was walking over to them with a bucket full of water in his hand. He took out two cold, wet cloths and shoved them into the boys faces while smiling brightly again.

"Alright, I guess that's enough for hand-to-hand combat. Rest up for a few minutes. I'll come pick you up to go take a look at a few artificial Spirit Souls."

After saying that, he happily skipped away again, letting the boys lay sprawled on the ground, now with wet cloths covering their bruised eyes.

Jian Wang was the first to speak up with a powerless, shaky voice.

"Feilong... you didn't tell me your Master was so brutal... I thought he would just show us a few, cool moves!"

Sheng Feilong sat up, holding to wet cloth his his eye before speaking in a disgruntled voice.

"I told you not to make fun of his hair, but you had to laugh, ugh... At least he knows where to stop... and we get to take a break."

After saying that, he put the cloth back into the bucket before circulating his Soul Power to help him recover from his injuries. Jian Wang did the same, although his technique wasn't as efficient.

A few minutes later, Song Weihan returned. He was quite satisfied seeing the boys meditate to aid their healing and decided to try them. He sat down a few meters away from them and began slowly using his Spirit Power to disturb Sheng Feilong, mixing a bit of killing intent into it. He wanted to see how sharp his disciple's senses were when faced with danger. It didn't take long for Sheng Feilong to sense the killing intent and he instantly sprung to his feet and let out a short scream, startling Jian Wang who sat next to him. Seeing his Master smile at him, Sheng Feilong relaxed and questionably looked at Song Weihan.

"Not bad, you sensed it quite quickly. Though, still not fast enough. Any assassin would have taken you out by now. Remember, always stay focused." He than stood up and looked at Jian Wang

"Alright, let's go, you two. You wanted to take a look at a few Spirit Souls, right, Chicken Boy?"

Jian Wang shuddered after being called by that nickname. 'He... he wouldn't hold a grudge against me, right' still, he obediently nodded and followed after Sheng Feilong and Song Weihan.

Then walked into a room witha few computers in it as well as a strange chair with a huge headpiece attached to it – the same room Sheng Feilong went to when he first had his Spirit Power measured. Song Weihan turned around and explained what they would do to Jian Wang.

"Normally, you'd have to go through a few tests before choosing a suitable artificial Spirit Soul, but after our training, I already know most of the things we need to consider. We just need to measure your Spirit Power to see how strong of a Spirit Soul you're able to handle. Sit down on that chair and focus..."

After Song Weihan finished his explanation, Jian Wang nodded and sat down on the chair. The headpiece lowered and the test began. After a while, the test ended, the headpiece went up and Song Weihan took a look at the results.

"A Spirit Power of 58. Considering your age, that's quite good. You should be able to support an artificial Spirit Soul of up to 350 years of age."

Sheng Feilong was surprised at the seemingly low number of Jian Wang's Spirit Power, so he couldn't help but ask his Master.

"Isn't 58 too low? The machine isn't broken, right? My Spirit Power way way higher!"

Jian Wang looked confused while Song Weihan chuckled.

"You a little monster when it comes to Spirit Power, Feilong. But we can try it out if you're not convinced. Sit down on the chair and we'll have you take the test as well."

Sheng Feilong nodded and also took the test. When his results came up, Jian Wang was totally shocked. His father had told him what Spirit Power is and when he heard that his own was as high as 58, he was really glad. Not every Soul Master could support a over 100-years-old Spirit Soul at the beginning, after all! But Sheng Feilong? That guy's Spirit Power is already at 503!

503! And he's only 6 years old! No wonder Song Weihan called him a little monster just now! Jian Wang didn't know what to say, while Sheng Feilong seemed to be lost in thought and muttered under his breath.

"It's the same as last week... so the machine isn't broken... But Brother Wang can't be that weak, right?"

Jian Wang looked at him strangely and Song Weihan just laughed a bit before speaking up.

"Feilong, just having a high Spirit Power doesn't mean you're stronger than anyone else, likewise, having a weak Spirit Power doesn't mean you're weak. Didn't I win against you two before, even though I didn't stop you from using your Spirit Power? Your power comes from your Spirit Eyes, so you naturally have a really high Spirit Power. Jian Wang's is also already quite strong considering the average of 6-year-olds. Let's go to the laboratory and take a look at the Spirit Souls, shall we? I already have a fitting Spirit in mind."

When they reached the laboratory, Song Weihan asked a employee to print out information for a specific artificial Spirit Soul, including a picture of it. He handed the picture to Jian Wang who was instantly mesmerized by it. It was a big, double-headed axe with a long hilt and symmetrical blades that touched each other the the tip. It was completely of a pale silver colour with a shiny, white crystal in the middle between the two blades. The hilt was completely matt grey with a bladed counterweight at the bottom of it.

Song Weihan let them take a look at it and than explained about it.

"That Spirit Soul is called a Full-Moon Axe. It's a top notch artificial Tool Spirit for everyone who's Spirit Soul is related to combat axes. When fused, the first Soul Skill one usually gets from it is called Full-Moon Enchant. It coats your Spirit Soul with a silver aura of Soul Power that strengthens all melee attacks, be it in crushing power of sharpness. It can also be used as a projectile, like a sword wave often used by Sword Soul Masters. It's quite powerful and versatile to boot. We have one that fits you perfectly. It's 320-years-old and I don't think anyone has set their eyes on it yet. I can reserve it for you, if you want. But you'll have to reach rank 10 within 3 months, otherwise the reservation expires."

Jian Wang was listening as his eyes grew wider and more sparkling with each sentence. He furiously nodded his head at the end.

"Yes, yes! Please reserve it for me! I'll definitely reach rank ten in three months time!"

Song Weihan smiled and returned to the employee who printed the documents for him, before telling him something to which the employee nodded and began typing something on his computer. Song Weihan then returned to the two boys.

"I've told him to reserve it to your name, Jian Wang. When you reach rank 10, remember to come here with your parents, as they still have to pay for your artificial Spirit Soul. Since you're here today, I'll train you together with Feilong, how about that?"

Jian Wang happily agreed and followed Song Weihan and Sheng Feilong to Song Weihan's personal training area. Since they already did their hand-to-hand combat training today, the rests amounted to training Spirit Power and Soul Power, cultivating and correction of techniques as well as more advanced studies than at the Primary Academy. Sheng Feilong was somewhat used to the training after a month, but Jian Wang could barely keep up. When it came to cultivating, although Song Weihan wouldn't correct his techniques as they weren't his, he would always repremind Jian Wang when the latter tried to slack off.

At the end of the training, both of them were dead tired, with Jian Wang barely being able to keep his eyes open, let alone walk properly – He needed to rely on Sheng Feilong's shoulder!